Salutations,
Today was pretty good. Kristin was super kind and picked me and Ben up this morning on her way to the embassy. We met up with Thomas for lunch and then I took Ben to the playground next to the pool to swing and crawl around. There's some actual grass out there which is nice. However, it was super sunny (as always, that's what the weather just is). I put some suntan lotion on Benjamin but I probably should start wearing it too. I haven't gotten burned (yet) but I'm definitely a darker shade of cream and more freckly. And I have a superb farmer's tan from wearing short sleeves. We also stopped by the Co-Op and picked up some Breyer's ice cream. Evidently the local stores don't have a great ice cream selection, and that's become my nightly treat. Calcium, right?
Benjamin was pretty good while we were out, but this afternoon he started hitting himself and getting fussy again. I had to wake him up from his nap so we could walk to Jounia Pharmacy, the major landmark nearby. I was meeting a potential housekeeper there so I could walk her back to the house and interview her. I needed to get some smaller bills (so I could give her cab fare) so we left early and I went into Jounia and bought something cheap. We met the nice Filipino girl, Emy, and walked home and I fed Ben a snack while we chatted. She's very nice, and her schedule availability is perfect: mornings until 3pm. So I could take a class at the embassy and leave Ben with her, she's good with babysitting and cleaning, and will cook too. The hiccup is that she's asking for more money per hour than we were planning on paying. I'll interview a few other people, just to see what else is out there. But I'm sure she'd be great, we just have to be thoughtful. And we can also do a trial run and see if things work out, and if not, no big deal.
Oh and some bummer news: we purchased the car, but we aren't legally able to drive it until we get our residency cards and licenses and stuff, which will hopefully only take two weeks. Ugh, I'm so mad. Anyway, so we're relying on the kindness of friends to drive us around. But hopefully soon we'll get everything squared away. I'd really like to be able to make appointments, especially since Benjamin will need his 18 month shots soon. At least I can do that at the embassy, they have a health clinic that does immunizations.
Let's see, observations on life in Jordan. It's strange but cool to hear the call to prayer multiple times a day. It's very exotic, which is still nice. Maybe in 8 months I'll be annoyed by it but right now it's cool. Oh and there's a truck that drives around and plays a tune, like an ice cream truck. That's what I assumed it was, until Thomas's coworker mentioned that the gas truck plays music. Evidently the propane guy plays music, I think you're supposed to run out and flag him down when you need more gas. Pretty crazy. Thankfully we'll just request a tank from the embassy office whenever we need more for the gas range. We might have to use the random musical truck when our grill gets here, though.
I really hope we can get a housekeeper/nanny person soon, so pray that God will lead us to the right person. We'd prefer not to sponsor, which means you're responsible for paying for their ticket home if no one else will sponsor them when you leave. But I guess if the best person requires it, we could manage. And if they're actually good, then hopefully they wouldn't have a hard time getting another sponsor. Fingers crossed, I'd love to have some babysitting.
Have a good week,
Rachel
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